Great Western franchise extension - ongoing discussion, merged topic

[whole diary]

[ChrisB]

Oxman - Agree with your para 3, but I think para 4 is one wish to far - for what is purely a 2 year extension - I suspect the haggling is more about getting smaller improvements to the customer experience - like wifi on the HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train). Far more likely, than extra services with no available extra rolling stock.

What you list in para 4 I think is more likely to feature in the next round of bidding for the full new franchise in two years time, when electrification will be close enough to see extra (diesel) rolling stock becoming available & therefore bidding to keep some of it, beyond what already has been ID'd as being necessary.

The DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) know they're going to get castigated over allowing FGW^▸ (First Great Western) to obtain their original length franchise without paying over that huge premium - they can't avoid that as First would never agree to pay...so anything they can screw out of these negotiations I'm sure they will try - but extra services without extra stock? Hmmm

[LiskeardRich]

I've just stumbled across this article which suggests FGW^▸ (First Great Western) have a 2 year extension. Please see my bold highlighting
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-24140778

Concerns have been raised about the tendering process for Devon and Cornwall's main rail franchise.

Plymouth City Council's leader has written to the transport secretary saying he fears a two-year extension of First Great Western's (FGW) contract will mean a delay to improvements.

He said he wanted to see faster journeys and improved internet access.


The FGW franchise includes services from London Paddington to South Wales, the Cotswolds and the West of England.

In his letter to Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin, Labour councillor Tudor Evans said: "It is my concern that such a short-term franchise being put in place, as a result of the government's decision to stop the franchise process, that the urgently-needed improvements to Plymouth's rail services will not be delivered."

He said the business community regularly complained about the "poor and intermittent wi-fi connectivity on our train services" and a lack of an early morning train from London to Plymouth.

'Incredibly disappointing'

Mr Evans said that because the franchise was only for a short period, with no decision on what would happen at the end of it, he wanted the government to "de-risk" the arrangement.

He added that it had been made clear in the Brown Review into the rail franchises that if short franchises are to be introduced, measures should be put in place to ensure that operators had the incentive to invest in the necessary infrastructure to improve the operation.


There's a bafflingly-wide range of opinions in the region about First Great Western and its stewardship of most of our rail services.

The RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) says it's now time to re-nationalise here via Directly Operated Railways.

At the same time one seasoned rail commentator, Neill Mitchell, has told us that the way customers have flocked to the railways here under First is "an astonishing achievement".

The franchise that's now bumping to an untidy end didn't work out as planned. The downturn blew First's expected revenue growth off-course and also derailed hopes of a new mainline train fleet.

Then the West Coast franchise debacle made sure the process of lining up an operator for the next 15 years hasn't run remotely to timetable.

Any day now, First will be confirmed as our main rail operator until 2016, and only then will the fight begin over who gets the long-term franchise.

"I am therefore looking to the government to assist in the delivery of these improvements within the interim franchise arrangements," Mr Evans said.

A 15-year franchise should have begun earlier this year, but the government's rail industry franchise programme was delayed after the West Coast bidding process had to be abandoned.

Since then, First's tenure on the Paddington route and all branch lines and local services has been continuing but it will end on 12 October.

It is believed FirstGroup will be granted the franchise for a further period of two years and nine months.

The company is now in talks with the government about what sort of service First must provide.

But Tim Jones, from the Devon and Somerset Local Enterprise Partnership, said: "We understand that the government is about to award FirstGroup an extension to their existing contract on what is described as a 'vanilla package', which means that there will be no new investment... which is incredibly disappointing."

Rail union the RMT has urged the government to take the franchise back into public hands.

Brendan Kelly, from the RMT, said: "It's costing the industry around about ^1.2bn a year to keep franchises private.

"That money could actually save about 18% off of fares if it was reinvested back into the industry and was used to subsides fares."

FirstGroup is the only commercial candidate being considered to run the service up to 2016, although the government has a fall-back option in the form of the publicly-owned Directly Operated Railways

[paul7575]

"It is my concern that such a short-term franchise being put in place, as a result of the government's decision to stop the franchise process, that the urgently-needed improvements to Plymouth's rail services will not be delivered."

What improvements were these then?  If the re-franchising had gone ahead as planned, what improvements to Plymouth services were actually intended - I can see nothing in the lapsed ITT^▸ (Invitation to Tender) at all...

So what is his actual point?

Paul

[ChrisB]

The Dft's own Rail Franchise schedule has the GW^▸ (Great Western) extension running from Oct13 to Jul16, so this isn't news really, just rehashing what we know with Plymouth Council trying to change the schedule....yeah, right.

[LiskeardRich]

As a side note to my first post on the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) link

Any day now, First will be confirmed as our main rail operator until 2016

Now reads

Any day now, First may be confirmed as our main rail operator until 2016

[ChrisB]

That really makes it a non-story then!

Standards @ the Beeb are steadily dropping

[Timmer]

Standards @ the Beeb are steadily dropping

Dropped quite a while ago IMHO^▸ (in my humble opinion) but that's another story for another forum.

[Southern Stag]

"It is my concern that such a short-term franchise being put in place, as a result of the government's decision to stop the franchise process, that the urgently-needed improvements to Plymouth's rail services will not be delivered."

What improvements were these then?  If the re-franchising had gone ahead as planned, what improvements to Plymouth services were actually intended - I can see nothing in the lapsed ITT^▸ (Invitation to Tender) at all...

So what is his actual point?

Paul

One of the requirements in the ITT was for a train arriving at Plymouth before 1000 direct from London IIRC^▸ (if I recall/remember/read correctly), something that has been campaign for for a while.

[grahame]

http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/10689842._/?

THE Department for Transport has said it is close to completing negotiations with First Great Western to run the Great Western mainline for another three years.

[LiskeardRich]

Grahame, the Oxford mail article shows when rounding up can be dangerous, for good or bad depending on your views. Their rounding increases the new franchise term by 9%. The new franchise will run from October 2013 to July 2016.

[grahame]

http://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/update/2013-10-02/train-companys-contract-expected-to-be-extended/?

It's expected that train passengers in the region will hear tomorrow that First Great Western's contract has been extended for a further two years.

The Government has been forced to extend it after the last round of franchise negotiations collapsed in chaos.

But there are worries that services may be reduced, and there'll be further delays to much needed investment.

[JayMac]

First Group are, according to chatter on other forums, making a pre-close trading update announcement to the London Stock Exchange at 7am on 3rd October 2013.

Coincidence?

[SDS]

It is their 6 month regulatory reporting period based on FGP.L making a similar announcement on Oct 2nd of 2012.

I would suspect that they've timed it, with DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) approval, to coincide with the 6 month announcement. Maybe they might even announce a re-instatement of a dividend! I wonder what this 2 year extension is going to cost the taxpayer and if a quid-pro-quo deal was reached over West Coast.

Nothing on DfT or Gov newswires (as with previous announcements being made at 00:01), however I reckon an embargoed press release has been leaked out with itv being the first to break it.

[paul7575]

http://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/update/2013-10-02/train-companys-contract-expected-to-be-extended/?
...But there are worries that services may be reduced, and there'll be further delays to much needed investment.

Services may be reduced? No evidence whatsoever, in fact there is evidence services are being increased, eg Melksham and changes in the Newton Abbot & Paignton area...

Paul

[grahame]

Nothing on DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) or Gov newswires (as with previous announcements being made at 00:01), however I reckon an embargoed press release has been leaked out with itv being the first to break it.

Press release, indeed at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/franchising-deal-to-boost-services-on-great-western-main-line?

Franchising deal to boost services on Great Western Main Line


First Greater Western Ltd will operate trains between London Paddington, the Cotswolds, south Wales and the south west until September 2015.

Rail passengers will benefit from improved services, including greater WiFi coverage, on the Great Western network as a result of a new franchise agreement announced today (3 October 2013).

Under the agreement the government has reached with First Greater Western Ltd (FGW^▸ (First Great Western)), the company will continue running the franchise to operate trains between London Paddington, the Cotswolds, south Wales and the south west.

The new 23 month franchise is a further sign that the government^s programme is on-track. It will also enable the continued delivery of vital work to upgrade the line in future, including electrification to help deliver faster, more reliable journeys.

A multi-billion pound programme of national rail investment by Network Rail has already seen more than ^5 billion pumped into projects benefitting passengers on the Great Western network. These include Crossrail, the electrification of more than 200 miles of track on the Great Western line, and the upgrade of Reading Station.

Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said:

The Great Western franchise provides a vital service for thousands of passengers every day and under this deal they will see real benefits.

For communities like Devon and Cornwall the train is a life-line bringing in business and helping secure the leisure industry the community relies upon. This agreement will provide additional sleeper carriages between London and Cornwall securing the future of a key service once under threat.

We have also secured a commitment to deliver greater WiFi coverage to improve the experience of long distance journeys for passengers. But I am also determined that we see further improvements during the lifetime of this contract; more standard class and fewer first class seats on key services and the delivery of more electric trains for the Thames Valley.

This agreement provides further proof that the government^s new franchising schedule is on track, delivering value for money for the tax-payer and supporting the ongoing multi-billion pound investment programme in our railways.

Today^s announcement is part of the continued successful roll out of the new rail franchising schedule. The government has agreed a 23 month direct award with FGW to run services from London Paddington to west and south west England and south Wales and commuter services into Paddington until September 2015. A further contract will be negotiated before a long-term franchise is let.

Wider benefits secured as part of this announcement by the Department for Transport include:

two additional sleeper carriages for services between London and Cornwall, to provide additional seasonal capacity for leisure and business passengers - this agreement has been reached with the support of Cornwall Council and Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership, which have provided additional funding for the service in recognition of the important role it plays in meeting the needs of business travellers
an agreement to fit more trains with free wireless internet services, so that passengers will be able to work and surf while travelling - priority for this upgrade will be given to long-distance trains, providing the benefits to the passengers who need it most
the retention of through services from Cornwall, Hereford, Weston-super-Mare, Bedwyn and Pewsey to London
more car parking spaces at Bristol Parkway station by spring 2014
In addition the government-funded National Station Improvement Programme will see FGW get ^4.6 million to upgrade stations most in need across the Great Western network.

The Great Western Main Line is also set to benefit from 57 state-of-the-art intercity express trains as part of the government^s ^5.8 billion Intercity Express Programme from 2017.

The Department for Transport will continue to work with FGW on a number of other proposals to improve services over the next two years, including:

delivery of a fleet of electric trains for the Thames Valley routes, which will allow for existing diesel trains to go to other areas of the franchise where they are needed, increasing capacity on those areas of the network
increasing the capacity of the existing high speed train fleet, with the addition of new seating in advance of the arrival of the new intercity express trains
smart ticketing
the delivery of improvements to services and stations through the life of the direct award
The contract is the third direct award to be delivered by the department following the successful negotiations with Virgin Trains in December last year for them to continue running services on the West Coast Main Line and the award made to c2c for the Essex Thameside franchise in May. The department has also successfully released on schedule invitations to tender for the Essex Thameside and Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern franchises last month.

The government announced its new franchising schedule in March following an independent review by industry expert Richard Brown, which endorsed the department^s overall franchise strategy. He also advised staggering competitions to make them more deliverable and the government has announced a programme of direct awards to deliver this.

Ongoing improvements being delivered across the Great Western franchise by Network Rail also include:

the redevelopment of Reading Station creating new platforms, better track layout and junction remodelling to remove a major bottleneck, reduce delays and create four extra train paths in each direction per hour
the electrification of GWML^▸ (Great Western Main Line) from Paddington to Bristol, Oxford and Newbury by 2016-17, which will allow the introduction of new intercity express trains. These trains will have 20 per cent more seats and their faster acceleration and deceleration will lead to journey time reductions of up to 22 minutes
the creation of a second track on 12 miles of the south Cotswold line to improve overall capacity between Swindon and Standish Junction and provide an enhanced diversionary route for south Wales
proposed improvements to stations working with FGW at Gloucester, Exeter Central, Newton Abbot, Plymouth and Truro, having completed schemes at Newbury, Didcot Parkway, Swindon, Cheltenham, Chippenham and Penzance.